TRACTOR TRAGEDY
At least 27 mainly women and children dead after trailer overturns and plunges into pond in horror crash in India
AT least 27 people are dead after a trailer they were travelling on overturned and plunged into a pond in India.
Another 20 were rushed to hospital when the tractor they were travelling on lost control and toppled into the water.
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The group of 40 adults and children had been visiting a temple in Uttar Pradesh when tragedy struck.
The passengers - who came from the same village - were rushed to a hospital in nearby Bheetergaon.
Chilling footage showed locals rushing to retrieve survivors and the dead from the pond in pitch darkness.
At one point, children were seen being carried in the arms of volunteers.
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The tractor lost the control when it was returning from Chandrika Devi temple in Unnao.
It's understood the group visited the temple to attend a "mundan" ceremony, which is the act of shaving a baby's first hair on the head, according to .
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the loss of live.
Modi had announced families of the deceased would receive £2,200 in compensation each.
";Distressed by the tractor-trolley mishap in Kanpur. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their near and dear ones. Prayers with the injured," Modi tweeted.
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"The local administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has called on locals not to use tractors to transport people.
"The road accident in Kanpur district is very heart-wrenching," he said.
"The District Magistrate and other senior officers have been directed to reach the spot immediately and conduct relief and rescue operations on a war footing and make arrangements for proper treatment of the injured."
Police have launched an investigation into the incident.
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